2020 IDP Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 10

ByRyan Sitzmann Posted on Updated on

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Let’s start things off by going through some IDP news, notes, and commentary from Week 9 of the NFL season.

Injuries
Calais Campbell suffered a calf injury in the Ravens’ win over the Colts and is expected to miss multiple weeks.

Shelby Harris was inactive as he did not pass through COVID protocols in time for the team’s game on Sunday. He should be good to go for this week’s game, however. 

Jadeveon Clowney is having issues with his meniscus and is currently being evaluated by doctors to see if he needs surgery. He’s been virtually nonexistent for fantasy purposes anyway, so he’s a player best left on the waiver wire in redraft leagues. 

Although he returned to the lineup after a multi-week injury, Matt Milano didn’t seem to be fully recovered so the team put him on injured reserve. This said, he will be out until at least Week 12 with that pectoral injury. 

Safety/linebacker hybrid Jeremy Chinn cropped up on the injury report mid-week with a knee injury and ended up being inactive on Sunday. Hopefully this is just a one-week injury but his practice participation (or lack of) throughout this week will give us some clues to his true status for Week 11.

Jaire Alexander suffered a concussion on TNF but he is expected to clear the necessary protocols in time for the team’s game against the Jaguars this week.

Jaquiski Tartt was forced from Thursday Night’s game with a foot injury and did not return. Tartt is one of the more oft-injured secondary players and can largely be ignored for fantasy purposes. 

General Player News
The Falcons released DE Takkarist McKinley after he went on a social media tirade. He will likely be picked up by a pass-rush needy team. He’s worth keeping an eye on in deep, big play IDP leagues.

Josh Jones has been a surprise for managers this season in the tackle department as he had over 60 total tackles in eight games. However, last week he started rotating with Daniel Thomas (34%) and only saw 66% of the defensive snaps. If this trend continues, it will be very difficult for Jones to continue putting up starter numbers for us. 

For more details on linebacker playing time, check out my Every Down Linebackers article. 

Now onto The Guru’s IDP waiver wire selections for Week 10! 

(Please note that a majority of these pickups early on are long-term, rest of season pickups as opposed to matchup-type recommendations. As the season progresses and the waiver wire becomes thinner and matchup information becomes more reliable, the focus of this article will shift more towards recommendations based on the weekly matchup.)

Defensive Linemen

(Previously recommended DLs: Aldon Smith, Montez Sweat, Michael Brockers, Akiem Hicks, Mario Addison, Stephon Tuitt, Jonathan Allen, Kerry Hyder, Jeffery Simmons, Carl Lawson, Stephon Tuitt, Leonard Williams, Yetur Gross-Matos, Emmanuel Ogbah, Trey Hendrickson, Denico Autry, Justin Madubuike, Melvin Ingram, Leonard Williams, Sheldon Richardson, Melvin Ingram, Derek Barnett, Romeo Okwara, Stephon Tuitt, Carlos Dunlap, Marcus Davenport)

DE Carlos Dunlap (SEA) – Dunlap was called out in this article as a player to pick up last week, but I want to reconfirm that suggestion again as he played 68% of the defensive snaps in his first game with the Seahawks and compiled an impressive 3-2-1, 3 TFL stat line. He should be a nice DL3+/DL2- for us down the stretch.

DE Leonard Williams (NYG) – Williams is making his second appearance in this article and for good reason. He’s had a sack in three of his last four contests and will be going up against an Eagles team that has allowed the most points to opposing defensive ends (by a wide margin). Williams will be a solid DL2 option this week. 

DE Josh Sweat (PHI) – The Eagles rotate their defensive lineman at an above average rate so Sweat usually only sees around 50% of the snaps along with Derek Barnett. However, that should be enough to build upon his season sack total of three against a Giants team that has allowed 28 through 9 games. 

Linebackers

(Previously recommended LBs: Germaine Pratt, Nate Gerry, Jon Bostic, B.J. Goodson, Micah Kiser, Kevin Pierre-Louis, Foyesade Oluokun, Eric Wilson, Kevin Pierre-Louis, Joe Thomas, Ty Summers, Avery Williamson, Kyzir White, K.J. Wright, Mykal Walker, Anthony Walker, Josey Jewell, Nick Kwiatkoski, Tyrel Dodson, Foyesade Oluokun, Avery Williamson, Tyrell Adams, Jerome Baker, Troy Reeder, Dre Greenlaw, Krys Barnes, Robert Spillane, Tae Crowder, Alex Singleton, Kamal Martin, Vince Williams, Haason Reddick, Christian Kriskey, Dre Greenlaw, Neville Hewitt, Blake Cashman, T.J. Edwards)

LB Christian Kirksey (GB) – I thought Kirksey perhaps would return last week but with Green Bay playing on Thursday Night, it limited his chances. Now that he’s had 10 additional days, Kirksey should be good to this week. He may not be full time right away but I would expect that to happen sooner rather than later as the Pack desperately need help in defending the run. Kirksey opened the season with back-to-back 12 tackle performances prior to going down with an injury in Week 3. He should be a LB1 once back up to a full complement of snaps. 

LB Tyrell Adams (HOU) – Despite a string of very solid performances, Adams continues to fly a bit under the radar with Zach Cunningham getting a lot of the fantasy attention in Houston. However, there’s an argument to be made that Adams is the top fantasy player on the team. He actually took over the play calling duties in Week 7 and has played every snap over the team’s last two contests racking 23 total tackles over that span while Cunningham has seen his playing time dip below 80% in the same time frame. I’d consider Adams a top 15 LB play the rest of the way (with Cunningham close behind). Pick him up if he’s available. 

LB A.J. Klein (BUF) – As long as Matt Milano and Tyrel Dodson are on injured reserve, Klein should continue see every down snaps and be able to put up high-end LB4/low-end LB3 numbers based on volume alone. We can’t expect two sacks and forced fumble from him every week, but it’s a good sign that the team is using him on blitzes and that gives him a slight tick in big play upside.   

LB Harvey Langi/Blake Cashman (NYJ) – With Avery Williamson traded to Pittsburgh and Blake Cashman still inactive with a hamstring injury, Langi got the start at ILB next to Neville Hewitt and racked up an impressive 10 total tackles (9 solos). He posted a 5-1 stat line in his only other start back in Week 1, so I think there is some decent value with him if he continues to start. The Jets are on bye next week, but it’s a situation to monitor heading into Week 11 as whoever (Langi or Cashman) is the starter next to Hewitt will likely hold some LB3-/LB4+ value. 

Defensive Backs
(Previously recommended DBs: Marcus Maye, Jeremy Chinn, Adrian Phillips, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Josh Jones, Brandon Jones, Logan Ryan, Kenny Vaccaro, Troy Hill, Holton Hill, Logan Ryan, Julian Love, Taylor Rapp, Mike Hilton, Donovan Wilson, James Bradberry, Kareem Jackson, Kenny Moore, Kareem Jackson, Tashaun Gipson, Pierre Desir, Taylor Rapp, Deshazor Everett, Terrence Mitchell, Malcolm Butler, Ronnie Harrison, Micah Hyde, Josh Jones, Mike Hilton, Daniel Sorensen)

CB Marlon Humphrey (BAL) – This is just a reminder that Humphrey is expected to be activated off the COVID list this week. So if he was dropped for some reason in your league, he’s worth adding as one fantasy’s top cornerbacks. 

S Jabrill Peppers (NYG) – A slow start to the season and then a multi-week injury which limited his playing time led to poor production for Peppers through the first handful of weeks of the season. However, he’s fully healthy now and playing full-time. Over the last three weeks he’s posted stat lines of 4-2-1, 9-1-0 2 PDs, and 4-2-0 FR, INT, 3 PDs. Outside of Blake Martinez and Logan Ryan, there isn’t much competition for tackles so I expect Peppers to be able to continue posting similar numbers. I have him as a top 20 DB the rest of the way. 

S Kamren Curl (WAS) – Curl is taking over for Landon Collins who is on season-ending IR with an Achilles’ injury. In his first full game as the starter, Curl led the team with 11 total tackles and a sack. I’m not expecting DB1-type production like this every week, but the strong safety position in Washington has historically been fairly productive so Curl makes for a sneaky ROS add. Consider him a DB2-/DB3+ moving forward. 

CB Breon Borders (TEN) – Borders spent all season on the practice squad until the Titans cut veteran Jonathan Joseph last week. This, along with injuries in the secondary, forced Borders into a starting role opposite Malcolm Butler and, not surprisingly, he was targeted a lot by Chicago. This resulted in 9 total tackles for Borders. For those in deep/CB-required leagues, Borders could very well serve as a sneaky add until he loses the starting outside corner role or Kristian Fulton returns to health. 

If you found this article (or past articles) helpful, please consider DONATING. I put a lot of hours every week into my in-season content and make that content available free of charge to my readers, so any support you can throw my way would be greatly appreciated (even if it’s just enough for a cup of coffee). 

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Last Updated: November 10, 2020